Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) rule on Thursday whether South Africa had the obligation to arrest the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, during an official visit. What are the legal and political issues at stake?

The Santiago Appeals Court has postponed its 15 June review of the ruling to remove Augusto Pinochet's immunity from prosecution to 28 June after the former dictator suffered a last minute bout of ill health. According to his family, on 14 June the former head of the military junta in power in Chile from 1973 to 1990 passed out for thirty minutes and was taken into hospital suffering from a minor brain haemorrhage. He was discharged the following day. This is not the first time that Pinochet has been taken ill on the eve of a legal ruling concerning him.

On 9 March, the Supreme Court of Chile will examine the request by Judge Alejandor Solis to strip Augusto Pinochet of his immunity for his involvement in the murder of former General Carlos Prats and his wife Sofia Cuthbert in Buenos Aires, on 30 September 1974. The court must decide whether or not to confirm the ruling handed down by the Santiago Appeals Court on 2 December. The Court had ruled to lift Pinochet's immunity (see IJT 15) but counsel for the former dictator lodged an appeal against the decision.

The former dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990, Augusto Pinochet, will not stand trial for the murder of Chilean ex-general, Carlos Prats, who died on 30 September 1974 in Buenos Aires. On 24 March, the Supreme Court refused to strip Pinochet of his special immunity as a former president, reports AP. The ruling overturns a decision of 2 September 2004 by the Santiago Appeals Court which voted in favour of lifting his immunity, at the request of Judge Alejandro Solis. The only conviction secured to date in the case is that of Enrique Arrancia Clavel.